Owen Parr has 9 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators. The most-rated is The Abduction of Patient Zero.
The Unsub
Summary
He was just an ordinary guy - so why was he quietly whacked? In his seventh hard-boiled tale, New York-based Private Eye Joey Mancuso travels to the lush, verdant shores of Miami Beach. But this is no vacation - Joey’s wading knee deep into a gritty cesspool of corruption, using his street smarts and industry connections to investigate a vast financial conspiracy. A young hedge-fund employee - a kid right out of college, green as can be - was killed by an anonymous sedan while on a motorcycle ride after hitting the South Beach clubs. Miami Beach police don’t seem interested, but Joey does - the kid’s dad is a friend of a friend. And Joey Mancuso is nothing if not a loyal friend. So Joey and Marcy, his gun-toting FBI agent wife, hole up on a boat in Miami Beach, hell-bent on figuring out how an entry-level employee could provoke such tragedy. Soon, Joey and Marcy call in a favor of their own: They ask an old friend with Wall Street experience to play undercover agent at the fishy hedge fund. Joey’s ragtag team quickly uncovers a dirty trail of wealth and greed - a big, fat, Eastern European crime syndicate that stretches from Miami Beach back to their new stomping grounds in New York. Returning to their beloved, bustling, Lower Manhattan bar, they team back up with Joey’s brother and PI partner, the quick-thinking Father O’Brian. But New York is the bad guys’ home turf, too - suspects are becoming victims, and these villains are plenty adept at slipping around the shadows of the city, intent on murdering anyone who tries to mess with their money. Before you can say “Czech mob”, Joey and Father O’Brian find themselves trying to stay one jump ahead of this deadly organization.
©2020 Owen Parr (P)2020 Owen Parr
A Murder on Wall Street
Summary
Can a priest, his brother, and the brother's girlfriend solve a murder case and see justice done - or will they be the murderer's latest victim? A Murder on Wall Street takes us inside the world of Captain O'Brian's Irish Pub and Cigar Bar in Manhattan, a legendary hotspot in the Financial District. Investigating the death are pub owners Joey Mancuso, fired from the New York Police Department for his unorthodox methods, and his brother Father Dominic, who isn't your typical priest. Also investigating is Marcy Martinez, a Cuban bombshell and FBI agent who is Joey's girlfriend. When a customer kills himself after celebrating the night before, the three know something's wrong. Turns out, the customer's death coincides with people losing money - lots of it - and some of those people are very, very dangerous.
©2017 Owen Parr (P)2017 Skyboat Media, Inc.
The Case of the Antiquities Collector
Summary
Their daughter goes missing and they don't call the cops? That’s one of many... ...intriguing mysteries deliciously and intricately layered in this audiobook. Layer upon layer, twist upon twist, secret upon secret, this is a case tailor-made for a Sherlock Holmes devotee like private investigator Joey Mancuso. From the beginning, there’s just something funny about parents who didn’t report a missing student right away, and days later still want no police. Hold it here! This is their beloved daughter, last seen leaving for a date. Why wouldn’t they want as much firepower as they can get? Because they know too much, that’s why - and Owen Parr’s clever detective senses that. Joey’s first job is to save the girl, but no way he’s going to stop there. The scrappy PI and ex-cop’s going to get answers if it kills him. Which, of course, it nearly does. The body count soars as his brother and detective partner Father Dom, always the adult in the room, clucks, prays, and begs for caution - to no avail. The ruthless kidnappers have something huge to cover up…an operation involving stolen art that’s being used to finance one of the greatest evils on the planet. Once Joey knows that, he’s a runaway train. A lot of the fun is in the clever Russian doll structure of a puzzle wrapped in a mystery, each discovery leading to a bigger and more surprising twist, but it wouldn't be half as delightful without the loveable series ensemble author Parr has assembled. The usual suspects are here - Marcy, Joey’s new wife and favorite FBI agent; researcher Agnes, who goes to Father Dom’s Mass every morning, presumably to repent for her shameless hacking. There’s also a welcome new addition - a professor who’s as close as you’re ever going to get to Indiana Jones. Full of action and exotic locales, this PI series entry will appeal to action-adventure fans as well as those who can't get enough of hard-boiled New York detective stories.
©2018 Owen Parr (P)2018 Owen Parr
The Manhattan Red Ribbon Killer
Summary
Manhattan Plagued by Terror: Red Ribbon Killer Rampages! The third outing in the gripping Mancuso-O’Brian murder mystery series, this case is particularly fascinating, Watson - because it’s about to get personal! Meticulous NYPD cop-turned-private eye Joey Mancuso is called in to help the Midtown South precinct solve a series of brutal murders targeting young professional women. Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy once said: “Murder is not about lust, and it’s not about violence. It’s about possession”. It's a notion that haunts the NYPD when three isolated strangulation cases leave the midtown unit stumped. Case #1 at first seems to be an eve of kinky sex gone wrong. But when second and third bodies turn up - this time with the sign of the cross carved into their breasts - New York’s finest think they have a serial killer on their hands. There couldn’t be a better time to call in wry private investigator Joey Mancuso and his brother, Father Dominic O’Brian. Joey finds himself grasping at straws - and concocting a psychological profile of his killer, thanks to some tips from his FBI agent sometime-girlfriend. Why the gruesome carving of the crucifix? And why are all the murders so close to NYPD’s Midtown South Precinct? The more Joey digs, the more he realizes his victims aren’t simply the victims of patterned sex crimes, but of a narcissistic psychopath gunning for someone - someone with ties to the precinct, perhaps. With a little help gentle and guidance from his brother Father O’Brian, Joey and his ragtag team of investigators race the clock from their new digs behind Captain O’Brian’s Irish Pub to catch their killer. Author Owen Parr has modeled his heroes after Holmes and Watson, and all the Doylesque markings of a head-scratching, heart-racing puzzler lie in these pages. But not only fans of Holmes, but also of the gritty police procedurals by Raymond Chandler, Joseph Wambaugh, Lawrence Block, and Rex Stout will gobble up the series.
©2017 Owen Parr (P)2017 Owen Parr
Jack Ryder Mystery Novellas, Vol. 1-3
Summary
Three of a kind cozy murder mysteries. Novella 1 - A presumed Russian spy is found tortured and shot in the face in his high-rise condominium in South Beach, Florida. Incredibly, the perpetrators of the gruesome murder correctly copied the manner in which the victim was killed, as described in best-selling author, Jack Ryder’s last novel. Jack is a 40-year-old divorcee, and a Wall Street retired financial analyst turned crime mystery writer. His new lifestyle does not include alarm clocks, suits, or ties. He's living carefree aboard a 40-four-foot yacht with his beagle Max, enjoying the peace of South Beach, and the clubs and ladies that abound the area. Logan Robert, former Army Special Forces and now homicide detective for the Miami Beach Police Department, gives Jack a choice: either be under suspicion for the murder or help solve this crime. But, there’s a condition - because of the Feds hovering around the MBPD station like flies on molasses, waiting to see what the MBPD uncovers, the murder investigation must be conducted from Jack’s boat, the Easy Ryder, docked at the Miami Beach Marina, while a bogus parallel investigation continues from the police station for the benefit of the Feds. Jack wants no part of this. However, his choice of being embroiled in a murder inquiry with the Feds or helping solve the crime, especially one in which he feels plagiarized and violated, makes the decision obvious. Multi-award-winning author and master storyteller, Owen Parr, has a new hit series: Jack Ryder, Logan Robert Crime Mysteries. The Case of the Dead Russian Spy is book one in the novella series. Novella 2 - On the first night of a private famly cruise, billionaire and family patriarch Gustav Inglenorth is found dead in his cabin, stabbed three times. This was supposed to be a private family cruise on the maiden voyage of The Majestic, a luxurious private yacht. Mr. Inglenorth was to reveal the content and distribution of the family trust to 15 members of the family traveling aboard the yacht. Also, aboard the cruise is an author and sometimes consultant to the Miami Beach Police, Jack Ryder, MBPD Detective Logan Robert, and their dates for the cruise. Without a doubt, one of his family members is the murderer. Forced to take refuge from a hurricane in the Port of Havana, Jack Ryder and Logan Robert must find the killer among the 15 members of the family, before the Cuban authorities interfere in their investigation and hold the family indefinitely. Jack is a 40-year-old divorcee and retired Wall Street financial analyst recently turned crime mystery writer. His keen eye for detail in writing crime mysteries has made him an invaluable consultant to the Miami Beach Police Major Crimes Division. Logan Robert, former Army Special Forces and now homicide detective for the Miami Beach Police Department, has relied on Jack’s deduction abilities to solve murder cases. Novella 3 - Quarantined due to a virus and trapped because of an approaching hurricane. Miami Beach Police consultant Jack Ryder and his buddy Detective Robert Logan are back for their third murder mystery. Two victims lay dead at the Beach Cove Hotel in Miami Beach’s Art Deco hotel strip. Only 10 guests occupy the hotel, plus a small staff of four. Two of the guests are suspiciously murdered in the early hours of the morning. Everyone becomes a suspect, and is up to Jack and Detective Logan to find the offender before they strike again. Hurricane winds are wreaking havoc as they approach the coast of South Florida.
©2020 by Owen Parr (P)2021 by Owen Parr
A Murder on Long Island: The Last Advocate
Summary
Real estate developer Harold Longworth is facing life in prison for the murder of his wife in their Sagaponack, Long Island home. Just hired by the defense attorneys, former NYPD detective Giuseppe "Joey" Mancuso realizes that for a whole year before the trial, the attorneys have bungled the investigation. Was it on purpose? Are the attorneys covering something up? Joey and his half-brother, Father Dominic O'Brian, have 10 days before the end of the trial to find the real murderer. The day of the murder, a year ago, Suffolk PD homicide detectives found Mr. Longworth, alone in the home, sitting by his wife's body after he called 911. Her blood was on his clothes. His bloody prints were on the murder weapon. Gunshot residue on his arms and hands. The prosecution is on the last days of their presentation. They have proven opportunity on the part of Longworth. As for motivation, they are about to show that Mrs. Longworth, the victim, was asking for a divorce and settlement on a $75 million estate. Further, they uncovered that Mr. Harold Longworth suspected his wife of having an affair. As Mancuso and Father O'Brian begin working the case from their center of operations, Captain O'Brian's Pub and Cigar Bar at the corner of Beaver and Hanover Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, they find that there could be a lot more to this murder. The Longworth Foundation, a $100 million nonprofit organization, is under FBI probe and IRS audit for potential tax schemes, money laundering, and colluding with foreign governments. Mancuso, in his admitted Sherlock Holmes style, likes to look beyond the obvious. To observe things others looked at, but did not see. Can Mancuso and O'Brian save Mr. Longworth from a life sentence? Will they be able to unravel a possible fraudulent tax scheme being concocted by the foundation executives? Or, is it simply a case where the husband did it out of jealousy?
©2017 Skyboat Media, Inc. (P)2017 Skyboat Media, Inc.
The Murder of Paolo Mancuso
Summary
PI Joey Mancuso was just a kid when he watched a stranger walk into a Little Italy bar, shoot his mobster dad in the chest, and calmly walk back out, disappearing into the Manhattan din. The murder was never solved. And the old mob adage “an eye for an eye” went unfulfilled. But now, at death’s door, infamous mobster Tony the Hammer summons Joey and utters three mysterious words: “Wetherly Stevens, Barcelona.” Joey has no doubt he’s just been told how to find his father’s killer. Revenge, deep-seated wounds, that agonizing cold case, and a mysterious series of small town murders all come to a head in the fifth hard-boiled Mancuso/O’Brian mystery - with a dash of international intrigue - when witty ex-cop Joey, with the help of his PI brother, Father Dominic O’Brian, attempts to track down his father’s murderer in Barcelona and Hilton Head, SC. From tantalizing tapas near La Sagrada Familia to bourbon-soaked pulled pork sandwiches at a South Carolina B&B, murder couldn’t get any more flavorful - or more personal. Armed with only those three words, and - true to form - with no plan and very little research, Joey flies straight to Barcelona. But what does a New York wise guy have in common with an investment banker? Perhaps retired partner Alexander Wetherly has answers. But a peaceful Q&A on quaint Daufuskie Island turns murderous when the elderly gentleman who runs Joey’s B&B winds up stabbed to death. And this isn’t the first murder of its kind - it seems Daufuskie Island has a grisly and deeply-seated cold case all its own. One-part seductive international travel story, one part old-school cold-case murder mystery, Joey Mancuso’s antics will prove a delight to PI and police procedural fans of Raymond Chandler, Joseph Wambaugh, Lawrence Block, and Rex Stout. Also recommended for fans of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer mystery series, and, of course, the Sherlock Holmes adventures.
©2018 Owen Parr (P)2018 Owen Parr
Due Diligence (Alpha Team Series)
Summary
They’ll always have Paris...if they can both stay alive CIA Agent Alejandro Cardenas fell for her the moment he took a pratfall in front of the Arc de Triomphe, a ploy to distract the guys tailing her. The action-packed but romantic protection assignment led to a steamy six-year affair, after which they parted, knowing they were soul mates, perfect for each other - except that each was married to someone else. Ten years after Paris, Alex, now a widower, is retired from the CIA. Julia, the beautiful lady from Paris, is a founding partner of a Chicago investment firm, currently handling the IPO for a Miami-based conglomerate. But the conglomerate is secretly owned by the Cuban government, which has used it for decades to launder the ill-gotten gains of a vast criminal empire that includes drug smuggling, revolution for hire, and numerous other nefarious activities. Julia’s rising financial stardom - along with Alex’s influence - bring her a high-profile position in the Cuban-American community, but when a pair of Cuban generals undertake a massive assassination plot, Alex realizes he has placed her in danger. To protect the love of his life, he comes out of retirement and assembles the Alpha Team, a deadly tactical force of former associates. As suave as he is deadly, Alex is a charming companion, whether author Parr is treating us to a tour of Parisian nightlife or a sampling of delectable Miami specialties. If you like political action thrillers like those by Brad Thor, James Rosone and Miranda Watson, Vince Flynn, and Robert Ludlum, you'll love Owen Parr!
©2015 Owen Parr (P)2019 Owen Parr
The Abduction of Patient Zero
Summary
In his sixth labyrinthine hard-boiled puzzler, NYC private eye Joey Mancuso finds himself neck-deep in a maze of a murder mystery - the kind that weaves through military secrets and international espionage - at the center of which is the woman he loves. The vic Oscar Stanton (name etched into his designer trousers) was gunned down in Washington Square Park in broad daylight, just after a lunchtime rendezvous with a business associate. A quick and dirty ID reveals the real Oscar Stanton was working in cybersecurities for the DO and, perhaps unsurprisingly, was KIA in Afghanistan. And Mancuso’s antics tend to weave a winding yarn as intricately connected as a satisfying Sherlock Holmes. Despite a recent drop in New York City’s crime rate, the PI business is booming for acutely astute investigator Joey Mancuso and his partner-in-solving-crime Father Dominic O’Brian (who happens to be his half-brother). So, it’s no surprise when Mancuso is called to the scene of a particularly gruesome and utterly confounding Lower Manhattan murder one otherwise pleasant afternoon. As a complex white collar crime case unfolds with the usual barrage of infighting between the NYPD, CIA, FBI, and military intelligence, it becomes increasingly evident that despite personal ties to the case, Mancuso and his associates are Marcy’s only hope. They must race the clock - and a likely well-connected killer, not to mention the intelligence forces the killer certainly has in his back pocket - to catch the FBI’s missing suspect and clear Marcy, before she’s falsely accused of espionage and murder or goes the way of the men surrounding her. Who will like this: It's Matt Scudder meets Father Brown. Fans of both New York PI novels and police procedurals like those by Raymond Chandler, Joseph Wambaugh, Lawrence Block, and Rex Stout, and clerical mysteries will love this offbeat detective team. As will devotees of the greatest detective of all time - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
©2019 Owen Parr (P)2020 Owen Parr